Initiating language engagement with multimodal learning tasks

Aránzazu García-Pinar

Abstract


Engaging students in meaningful learning is currently a significant challenge for many teachers and those who observe daily how students’ attention spans are affected by a variety of distractions in the classroom. In fact, engagement has become one of the most fashionable research topics in educational psychology. The present study explores the engagement among five engineering undergraduates for one semester while working on L2 tasks, which entailed the multimodal analysis of 8 technology-related TED Talks and was purposefully designed to initiate them into multimodal literacy and foster their language learning. A narrative qualitative analysis of an open-ended questionnaire that the students completed at the end of the semester shows that the students were working on the task and engaged in the process. All five students acknowledged that they found L2 task completion meaningful because it could lead to positive academic outcomes and help them see the relevance of L2 in the real world. The multimodal L2 task presented in this study may offer a pedagogical scenario that can be replicated by other L2 lecturers across different contexts and communities to develop students’ multimodal competence while initiating their language engagement.

Keywords


language engagement; L2 course; multimodal analysis; multimodal literacy; TED Talks

Full Text:

PDF

References


Dao, P. (2019). Effects of task goal orientation on learner engagement in task performance. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 59, 315–334. https://doi.org/10.1515/ iral-2018-0188

Dörnyei, Z., Henry, A., & Muir, C. (2016). Motivational currents in language learning: Frameworks for focused interventions. Routledge.

Eidswick, J., & Asaba, M. (2018). The effect of topic interest and choice in second language journal writing. Writing & Pedagogy, 10(1-2), 161-190. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.32756

Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P., & Paris, A. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74, 59-109.

García-Pinar, A. (2019). The influence of TED Talks on ESP undergraduate students’ L2 motivational self system in the speaking skill: A mixed-method study. ESP Today, 7(2), 231-253. https://doi.org/10.18485/esptoday.2019.7.2.6

Henry, A., & Thorsen, C. (2020). Disaffection and agentic engagement: ‘Redesigning’ activities to enable authentic self-expression. Language Teaching Research, 24(4), 456–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168818795976.

Hiver, P., Al-Hoorie, A. H., Vitta, J. P., & Wu, J. (2021). Engagement in language learning: A systematic review of 20 years of research methods and definitions. Language Teaching Research, 28(1), 201-230. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688211001289

Kohnke, L. M. A., Jarvis, A. T., & Ting, W. C. A. (2021). Digital multimodal composing as authentic assessment in discipline-specific English courses: Insights from ESP learners. TESOL Journal, 12(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.600

Loewen, S., Shaofeng, L., Thompson, A., Nakatsukasa, K., Seongmee, A., & Xiaoqing, C. (2009). Second language learners’ beliefs about grammar instruction and error correction. The Modern Language Journal, 93, 91–104. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00830.x 1

Luzón, M. J. (2019). Bridging the gap between experts and publics: The role of multimodality in disseminating research in online videos. Ibérica, 37, 167-192.

Mercer, S. (2015). Learner agency and engagement. Believing you can, wanting to and knowing how to. Humanizing Language Teaching, 17(14), 1-19.

Mercer, S., & Dörnyei, Z. (2020). Engaging language learners in contemporary classrooms. Cambridge University Press.

Mozgalina, A. (2015). More or less choice? The influence of choice on task motivation and task engagement. System, 49, 120–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.01.004

Nakamura, S., Phung, L., & Reinders, H. (2020). The effect of learner choice on L2 task engagement. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 43(2), 428–441. https://doi.org/10.1017/s027226312000042x

Philp, J., & Duchesne, S. (2016). Exploring engagement in tasks in the language classroom. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 36, 50-72. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0267190515000094

Phung, L. (2017). Task preference, affective response, and engagement in L2 use in a US university context. Language Teaching Research, 21, 751-766. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168816683561

Qiu, X., & Lo, Y. Y. (2017). Content familiarity, task repetition, and Chinese EFL learners’ engagement in second language use. Language Teaching Research, 21(6), 681-608. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168816684368

Reeve, J., & Shin, S. H. (2020). How teachers can support students’ agentic engagement. Theory into Practice, 59, 150–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1702451

Renninger, K. A. & Hidi, S. (2016). The power of interest for motivation and engagement. Routledge.

Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Press.

Sang, Y., & Hiver, P. (2021). Engagement and companion constructs in language learning: Conceptualizing learners’ involvement in the L2 classroom. In Hiver, P., Al-Hoorie, A. H., & Mercer, S. (Eds.), Student Engagement in the Language Classroom (pp.17-37). Multilingual Matters.

Scotto di Carlo, G. (2015). Pathos as a communicative strategy for online knowledge dissemination: The case of TED talks. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 21(1), 23-34. https://doi.org/ejournals.ukm.my/3l/article/view/7611/3274

Sinatra, G. M., Heddy, B. C., & Lombardi, D. (2015). The challenges of defining and measuring student engagement in science. Educational Psychology, 50, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2014.1002924

Symonds, J. E., Kaplan, A., Upadyaya, K., Salmela-Aro, K., Torsney, B. M., Skinner, E., & Eccles, J. S. (2021). Momentary engagement as a complex dynamic system. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/fuy7p

Tin, T. B. (2016). Stimulating student interest in language learning: Theory, research and practice. Palgrave Macmillan.

Wang, M. T., Henry, D. A., & Degol, J. L. (2020). A development-in-sociocultural-context perspective on the multiple pathways to youth’s engagement in learning. In Elliot, A. J. (Ed.), Advances in Motivation Science (pp. 113–160). Elsevier Academic Press.

Xia, S. A., & Hafner, C. A. (2021). Engaging the online audience in the digital era: A multimodal analysis of engagement strategies in TED talk videos. Ibérica, 42, 33–58. https://doi.org/10.17398/2340-2784.42.33

Zare, J., & Derakhshan, A. (2024). Task engagement in second language acquisition: A questionnaire development and validation study. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2024.2306166

Zhao, S., Djonov, E., & van Leeuwen, T. (2014). Semiotic technology and practice: A multimodal social semiotic approach to PowerPoint. Text & Talk, 34(3), 349–375. https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2014-0005




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v11i3.35450

Article Metrics

Abstract view : 0 times
PDF - 0 times

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Print ISSN: 2355-2794, Online ISSN: 2461-0275

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


View Journal Stats